Solutions for Google Photos Stuck Backing up

Problem: Google Photos backup on my Samsung S7 is not working. It has been stuck in "backing up 1 of XXXX" for days and there is still no progress at all. It was working fine previously. What's going wrong? Any advice will be appreciated.

Solution: The Google Photos backup stuck problem has bothered many Android/iPhone users who upload pictures to Google Photos. Other than getting stuck on backing up 1 of XXXX, Google Photos backup also fails when it is stuck on "checking for items to back up", "getting your photos ready for backup" on Android/iPhone/Mac.

It is really frustrating when Google Photos backup is stuck or unbearably slow. And the problem becomes even more frustrating when you find out that no one, not even those specialists on Google product forum, can fix your problem. The best you can do is to collect those solutions that have fixed the problem for other users and try them one by one. Hopefully, you'll find the effective solution eventually.

Here we conclude all viable solutions to fix Google Photos backup stuck problem. Hope you find one of them helpful.

Solution 1: Check Google Photos Backup Status

Step 1 Make sure that you have signed into Google account on Google Photos on Android/iPhone.

Step 2 Tap Assistant on the bottom and read the first card.

Step 3 If the card says:

"Waiting for connection" or "Waiting for Wi-Fi": Your device has no network connection or a weak one. You should tap the card to connect to a strong Wi-Fi or cellular network.

"Back up & sync is off": Back up & Sync feature is off on your Google Photos. Tap "TURN ON" on the card to enable Google Photos to back up your Android/iPhone' s photos & videos.

"A photo or video was skipped": A photo or video cannot be backed up to Google Photos because it doesn't meet Google Photos upload requirements:

Photos ≧ 75MB or 100 megapixels

Videos ≦ 10GB

"Backing up photos": Google Photos is backing up your photos/videos.

"Backup complete": All photos and videos on your device have been saved to Google Photos.

If the card doesn't give you any useful information, please read on.

Solution 2: Adjust Back up & Sync Settings

Step 1 Open Google Photos on your device and tap Menu button.

Step 2 Choose Settings >Back up & sync, where you can check and adjust the settings to fix Google Photos backup error.

Make sure that you are logged in the right account.

Tap Back up device folders to check the folders that have been enabled for Google Photos automatic backup. Make sure you have turned on Google Photos backup for the folders. Otherwise, the photos/videos cannot be backed up to Google Photos.

Set Upload size as High quality so that you can have unlimited storage on your Google Photos account.

Solution 3: Allow Google Photos to Back up Over Wi-Fi or use Mobile Network

It probably makes no sense but some users did complete their Google Photos backups after Google Photos is allowed to access cellular data.

On an iPhone, open Settings. Scroll down to find Google Photos and tap the app. Choose Wireless Data > WLAN & Cellular Data.

On an Android, open Google Photos. Tap Menu > Settings > Back up & sync. Under Cellular data back up, toggle on buttons for backing up photos & videos with mobile data. Now you can see if Google Photos can complete the backup.

Solution 4: Clear App Data/Cache

If Google Photos is still stuck on "backing up 1 of XXXX", "checking for items to back up", "getting your photos ready for backup", you can try to clear app data and cache of Google Photos and Google Play Service.

If you are using Google Photos on an iPhone/iPad, go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage > Google Photos and choose Delete App. Then reinstall the app from App Store.

Solution 5: Uninstall Google Photos Updates

Another trick to fix Google Photos backup not working problem is to uninstall all updates of Google Photos. The trick only works for Android users.

Step 1 Open Settings > Apps > Photos.

Step 2 Tap three dots icon on the top right corner and choose Uninstall updates.

Solution 6: Manually Upload Photos & Videos

When Google Photos gets stuck when automatically backing up some new photos/videos, you can manually upload the photos or videos to Google Photos.

On an Android phone, find a photo or video that you want to back up on Google Photos. Tap upload icon to upload it to Google Photos.

On an iPhone/iPad, open Google Photos and choose a photo/video. Tap the three dot icon and choose Back up.

Solution 7: Restart Device / Re-add Google Account/ Reinstall

There are the routine processes that you should try when Google Photos goes wrong on your phone.

Reboot your device.

Remove your Google account from Google Photos and then add the account back.

Uninstall Google Photos and install the latest update of the app.

Tip: If Google Photos Backup Takes Too Long

If Google Photos backup takes forever to complete on your device, you should:

Make sure there is enough battery;

Make sure there is enough memory space on your device. If your device is running out of memory, Google Photos will take forever to access or read photos from the phone, thus the backup gets stuck.

[Hot] Google Photos Backup Alternative: Android Data Backup & Restore

Some users have this Google Photos backup problem for months and Google seems to do nothing to help with the situation. To back up Android photos/videos, you can switch to a better solution: backing up photos/videos to computer, which is smoother and faster since it doesn't require a network connection.

Android Data Backup & Restore can back up photos, videos, contacts, and other Android data to PC. It can store photos/videos in a file of small size, for example, storing hundreds of photos in only several hundred MB.

Once subscribed on FonePaw, you would receive the free Newsletter once a week about the newly released products, new features of latest version as well as other interesting offers from FonePaw or its partners.